1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to steering and stabilization apparatus for vessels, as well as vehicles operable in a fluid medium.
2. Prior Art
Proposals have been made to equip vessels of various configurations with steering apparatus suited to guide ship movement in both shallow and deep waters. Most such proposals have included one or more rudders pivoted about substantially vertical axes and positioned toward the rear of the vessel's hull.
Other proposals have been made to equip vessels with stabilization apparatus such as port and starboard surface piercing hydrofoils. If the vessel rolls toward one side or the other, the foils tend to correct the roll inasmuch as the exposed surface area of one foil is increased while the exposed surface area of the other foil is decreased. One proposal has been made to pivotally mount lift-producing, surface-piercing hydrofoils on a surface watercraft for movement about substantially horizontal axes to provide lateral stabilization at controllable bank angles.
A problem with prior steering and stabilization proposals has been that the rudders or foils they employ are not movable between sheltered and extended positions. To the extent that some rudders or foils have been mounted for movement to retracted or storage positions, such structures have not been operable in their retracted or storage positions. An additional problem with prior steering apparatus proposals is that they provide no "heeling" function, i.e., they do not assist in banking the ship as is required for relatively high speed maneuvers.
As far as vehicles operable in a fluid medium, such as fixed wing airplanes, are concerned, steering thereof has been obtained by the provision of a rudder mounted on a rearwardly positioned vertical stabilizer, while banking thereof during turns has been obtained by the provision of ailerons carried by the wings thereof. Aerial missiles have been provided with vertical and horizontal surfaces extending outwardly from the body thereof carrying movable vane members operable to steer and stabilize the same.